BUSH POLICIES FAILING WOMEN IN IRAQ & AFGHANISTAN
Women’s Advocates Release Grades on U.S. Support for
Afghan & Iraqi Women’s Rights, Health and Security
The Bush administration touted womens advancement as a centerpiece of its efforts to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan. But, promised improvements have not materialized for the women and girls in those countries, three global womens organizations announced Tuesday.
Leaders from the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), Feminist Majority, and Womens Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), issued grades today for the Bush administrations rhetoric versus reality for womens rights, health and security in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The administration received low grades for its failure to appoint Afghan and Iraqi women to government positions, the lack of U.S. resources committed to address maternal health in both countries, and the failure to address the worsening security situation that is imperiling the participation of women and girls in public life.
The womens leaders reported that Bush administration actions have fallen far short of promises to the women of Afghanistan and Iraq:
Security concerns have slowed efforts to register Afghan women voters for the national election that has been rescheduled for September 2004. Further, womens leaders in Iraq have been targeted by extremists.
Former Iraqi Governing Council member Aquila Hashima and aid worker Fern Holland were both assassinated. Public Works Minister Nasreen Barwari survived an attempted assassination, and Yanar Mohamed, a women’s rights activist who protested proposed Islamic laws, received death threats.
Despite high rates of maternal mortality in Afghanistan, the US Government has not made significant health investments for women in that country. In fact, the administration committed just 800 million US dollar to all reconstruction in Afghanistan compared to nearly the same amount for the Iraqi Ministry of Health alone. In Iraq, the violence, deteriorating water quality and equipment shortages have undermined an already deteriorating public health system.
Despite pledges to include women in decision making in Afghanistan and Iraq, women have been included in only token numbers in governing bodies and womens calls for guaranteed representation have not been met by U.S. support.
More information on the grades issued, including expert contacts and background on women’s status in Afghanistan and Iraq, is posted online at www.WglobalScorecard.org.
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